The best and worst fastball hitters

There it is, One of baseball’s greatest hitters describing hitting a fastball as succinctly as he actually hit a fastball.

This column is not on the whys and wherefores of hitting the fastball, it’s Jack Webb, as Dragnet’s tough-guy Los Angeles Police Sergeant Joe Friday implored, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Nine to Know: 2014 Teams vs the fastball

Teams have hit .268 thus far this season with 739 homers.

Look at the homer totals of the Royals and Cardinals.

Check out the strikeout total of the Giants.

The Braves have swung and missed on 423 fastballs, the most in the majors.

The Royals have swung and missed on just 174 fastballs, the fewest in the majors.

The Red Sox have taken 946 fastballs for strikes, the most in the majors.

The Braves have taken 579 fastballs for strikes, the fewest in the majors.

The Giants have chased 28.3% of fastballs out of the zone, while on the other extreme, their Bay Area brethren have shown the best discipline with only 19.77% of their swings coming on fastballs out of the zone.

The Indians have put 797 fastballs in play, the most in the majors, while the Orioles have put only 605, the fewest.

Nine to Know: Dead-Red Hitters

Okay, I admit to being surprised that Daniel Murphy to being the best fastball hitter in the majors and that Robinson Cano has yet to hit a homer off a fastball this season, although he leads the majors with 44 hits. I’m less surprised to find that Nelson Cruz, who leads the majors in homers, has hit 12 off fastballs, also the most in baseball.

Peter Gammons

Peter Gammons is a Hall of Fame baseball columnist and he has covered the game of baseball for the Boston Globe, ESPN and the MLB Network. GammonsDaily.com features analysis from Peter Gammons as well as some of nation's top baseball analysts.